Cedric bops his head to the music from his headphones. Sitting behind the counter, he hums and taps his foot along with the song. The little bell rings every now and then, announcing the arrival of another customer. He checks the purchase of an old couple swiftly, smiling when he sees them beaming at their new items, a bridge to a nostalgic time for them. "Thanks for the tip, Mr. Hanson," he calls out to the old man, chuckling as he sees him smiling at his wife's excitement beside him. "Do you think he remembers her name?" Josh, a fellow coworker with curly red hair and curious green eyes, whispers to Cedric. He grabs Cedric's chin and points toward the door the old couple left through. "Like Dude! How old are they? Ninety-nine? Hundred?" he adds, furrowing his brows. Cedric sighs and swats Josh's hand away from his chin. "Let people be, Josh. Nothing's wrong with a man who's in love with his wife," Cedric says, returning to his phone and headphones. "Bro, still!" Josh whines, moving his hands around comically. Cedric smirks and shakes his head. "Just get back to work. I want to finish early, so I can check on Anna," he mutters and shuffles through his playlist. He waves off a grumbling Josh before the man starts whining again. When another customer approaches the counter to pay, Cedric takes off his headphones and rings out the man. "That would be 15.97$," he says with a professional smile, taking the cash and giving back the change. "Have a nice—" he freezes, his usual cheerfulness on hold when he sees a girl across the aisle. He raises his eyebrows at the sight of her, watching her look left and right, fiddling with her fingers, looking lost like she entered a different dimension. Cedric's eyes widen in recognition. "Hey!" He smiles when he recognizes his middle school classmate, his partner in art class. "Josh, take over," he calls out to the dozing man in the corner and leaves the counter. "Hey! Is that really you?" he muses with a huge grin. As he approaches her giddily, he accidentally steps on his loose shoelace, causing him to stumble. He waves his arms around and bumps straight into a shelf with a groan. He stands up quickly and crosses his arms, leaning against the shelf coolly. "H-Hey," his voice barely above a whisper, feeling a rush of heat rising up to his neck and cheeks.